


straight razor

by Bekka911



Series: play me a lullaby [3]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: And so is Five, Angst, Ben is done, Diego is a Good Brother, Good siblings, Hurt Klaus Hargreeves, Hurt/Comfort, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Klaus Hargreeves Whump, Sad, but happy, i love them, look - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-01
Updated: 2019-11-01
Packaged: 2021-01-16 08:24:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21268010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bekka911/pseuds/Bekka911
Summary: he remembers the gunfire and the screaming, and he remembers dancing with Dave and kissing Dave, and then he remembers Dave dying.He remembers coming home, only to die as well.(The one where Klaus gets injured and reveals too much about his past. The Hargreeves are Good Siblings)





	straight razor

**Author's Note:**

> here we go again. this one's a little longer. i don't like the ending. i DO like hurt klaus, and Good Sibling content. let me know what you think

“Ben. Benny Boy. Benjamin. I am _fine_. There’s no need to call a family meeting.” Klaus tries for a smile, wincing as Ben simply raised an eyebrow. 

“Make me corporeal, Klaus.”

The thing is, Klaus _really_ doesn’t want to. If Ben become corporeal, then Ben can talk to the others, and that’s a Bad Idea. Klaus is fine on his own - the knife wound isn’t even that big! Ben is totally blowing this way out of proportion. Klaus feels attacked. _Literally._

He creeps up the stairs, making sure to keep an ear out for any sign of his siblings. He thinks most of them are out today, but he knows that Vanya and Five are somewhere working on Vanya’s powers, so he can’t be too careful. Five, the little gremlin, would literally tie him down if he knew Klaus was injured and wasn’t saying anything.

Ben makes a frustrated sound as Klaus slips into his room and closes the door, making sure to lock it. _“Klaus.”_

Klaus waves a hand. “Up shut yourself, Ben. Nobody but me is going to hear you, and I’ve elected to ignore you so there.” It’s the sort of nonsensical bratiness he uses when he wants to goad someone into a fight to distract them. So far, it’s been pretty successful.

Unfortunately, Ben is Ben, and it doesn’t quite work. “If you die, I’m gonna kill you,” he warns.

“About that, Benny boy.” Klaus digs through his bedside table. He’s sure he left some bandages there. “We both know I can’t exactly _die_. And besides, you love me too much to ever hurt me.” 

Ben rolls his eyes. “Whatever.”

Klaus holds up a roll of bandages triumphantly, laughing to himself in victory. He dances into the bathroom, setting the bandages on the bench and gently peeling his shirt away from the still-bleeding wound. It hurts. It hurts a lot. _Ow._

Fuck, it _really_ kinda hurts.

Gingerly, Klaus pulls his shirt off completely, looking at the blood stains and making a sound of disgust. Another perfectly good shirt ruined. He’ll have to raid Allison’s closet again. He throws the bloody fabric over his shoulder dismissively, barely reacting to the pain that radiates from his abdomen at the movement.

Ben hisses through his teeth. “That looks gruesome.”

Klaus pokes the stab wound, frowning as more blood gushes down his stomach. He estimates the wound being just under his ribs, which is good because it means his ribs are okay, but also not good because it’s kind of deep and he may have internal bleeding. Eh, he’s had worse. Namely death.

He grabs the damp cloth that’s been abandoned in the basin, and presses it to the wound in a vain attempt to stem the bleeding. It doesn’t really work, so Klaus just starts wrapping the bandage around his stomach. He keeps it tight - he’s had to stitch himself up plenty of times - and relief washes over him when the sharp pain starts to dull.

He sniggers to himself. “Hey Ben,” he says. “I’m feeling a _stabbing_ pain in my stomach.”

Klaus is pretty sure Ben would have hit him over the head if he could. Too bad Klaus refused to make him corporeal. Ben sits on the side of the bath instead. “I hate you,” he says casually.

Klaus grins. “No you don’t.”

“No I don’t,” Ben sighs. “Which is why I’m asking you to go to the others. You know they’ll help you.”

Klaus shrugs, unbothered. He knows his siblings will help him, but there’s still some part of him that shies away from confronting them about it. For too many years they’ve ignored his pain whether is be physical, mental or emotional, and that sort of hurt isn’t going to just wash away because Five and Diego decided to try the whole ‘sibling’ thing.

And maybe Klaus has been called _attention whore_ too many times, both by family and by strangers who give him drugs and touch him whether he wants it or not. Affection, he craves, but _attention_ triggers a buried, instinctual _fear_ in him. It’s never bothered him much before because drugs are _really good_ at blocking emotions, but still. Klaus isn’t too keen on having a panic attack right now.

“Benjy,” he tuts, grinning brilliantly and backing out of the bathroom. “You should know by now that I’m a whore for pain.”

Ben’s face twists into something ugly for a moment, but when Klaus blinks, the look is gone and Ben just seems tired. “You’re a whore for a lot of things,” Ben says, and Klaus can tell that his dead brother is trying to carry on the joke, it’s just not working right, because Ben is a lot of things but he’s not care-free.

Klaus goes back to his room and rifles through his closet, muttering to himself as he throws away shirt after shirt. They’re all too plain, or too hot, or too scratchy, or too worn. He really needs to go on a shopping spree. Maybe Allison will go with him. She’s the one with the money after all.

Klaus brightens. _Allison!_ She’ll have some good clothes, and Klaus always finds interesting things in her wardrobe. Maybe he can sneak some new eyeliner as well. His pencil is pretty dead at this point, he just hasn’t been bothered to replace it. 

Mind made up, Klaus slips out of his room again and sneaks down the hallway, relieved when he reaches Allison’s room and finds it empty. “Alright,” he says to himself, rubbing his hands together and then hugging his naked torso. “It’s kind of chilly, so something with sleeves definitely. Maybe a jumper? No, too thick and heavy. A nice top with a jacket over the top. Or a scarf. That should work.”

He digs through the rack of clothes, frowning at some of Allison’s clothing choices. She seriously owns checkered pants? That are _flared_? He really has to talk to her about her fashion choices. He pushes aside the soft cream sweaters, intent on finding a breezy top. He picks out a creamy scarf that someone had hand-knitted. (He can tell because some of the loops are too wonky. It’s cute.)

“Klaus?” Allison sounds confused, but Klaus doesn’t stop his frenzied raid on her closet.

“Sister dearest, we must have a conversation about fashion.” He holds up the checkered pants, wrinkling his nose. “_This_ is not fashion. I’m humbly asking you to burn them.”

Allison strides forward and rips the pants out of his hands. Her lips are pressed together in a thin line, and displeasure darkens her pretty brown eyes. Klaus frowns at her. Allison just brushes her fingers against the bandage around his stomach. “What happened?” She rasps.

Klaus waves her off and turns back to her wardrobe. “Just got stabbed. No big deal. Seriously, Ally, do you have anything that isn’t either a sweater or a blouse? You’re more limited than I am, and I’m poor.”

“No, seriously, Klaus, what happened? Those bandages are _soaked_ in blood.”

Klaus ignores her, letting out a triumphant ‘aha!’ when he finds a black singlet. He slides it on gingerly, nodding approvingly at himself in the mirror. The shirt has to be big on Allison, because it’s huge on Klaus. It’s kind of a Look. He approves.

He presses a chaste kiss to Allison’s face before trying to slip past her. It doesn’t work, because she grabs onto his arm and her grip is _strong_. Maybe Luther had given her some of his powers when they ‘trained’ together. Klaus sniggers to himself. “I gotta go,” he says lightly, tugging against her grip.

Allison shakes her head, and drags him out of her room and down the hallway. He almost tumbles down the stairs, but manages to catch himself. Ben laughs at him. Klaus hisses back.

“What’s wrong?” Luther asks, frowning at Allison as she sits Klaus on the couch. “Allison?”

Allison snatches up her notepad, voice clearly exhausted for today, writes a scribbled message and shoves it under Luther’s nose. **CALL A FAMILY MEETING. NOW.**

Luther looks over to Klaus, as if looking for an answer, but Klaus just shrugs and settles back against the couch cushions. His wound stretches and pinches uncomfortably, but he holds back his winces and picks at his nails nonchalantly. 

Luther disappears out the door, leaving Klaus in a room with a clearly agitated Allison. She opens her mouth as if to speak, but her expression flickers with pain so she closes her mouth again and just paces.

“What’s her issue?” Klaus murmurs to Ben.

“I think it’s because you were stabbed and you didn’t tell anyone and she found out on her own and you don’t seem to care?” Ben murmurs back sarcastically. 

Klaus places a hand over his heart. “Ouch Ben, calm the sass. I didn’t _ask_ to be stabbed.”

Allison sends him a murderous look. Klaus holds his hands up, surrendering, before falling back against the cushions and sighing. It’s not fun being serious. He doesn’t understand how his siblings can do it all the time. It’s _exhausting_. (It could also be the stab wound that’s making him dizzy. It’s probably that.)

Allison shakes her head and mutters something to herself in a strained whisper. Klaus frowns at her. “Stop straining yourself,” he says quietly, scoldingly. “You’re still healing.”

Allison smiles at him, but then her eyes flick down to his abdomen and her face darkens and she starts pacing again. Klaus tips his head back and closes his eyes, letting out a long breath as stars explode in the darkness. Maybe he lost more blood than he initially thought. 

He’d been shot once, in the war. Right through the leg, an in-and-out shot that kept him in bed for nearly two weeks. Dave had sat by him nearly the whole time, holding Klaus’s hand and making stupid jokes about holes and penetration and ‘down on one knee, eh Hargreeves?’

Klaus’s floaty feeling bursts into flames and disappears, leaving him with an old hurt that he’s never managed to shake. _Dave_. He misses his soldier boy. Klaus just wants to kiss him one more time, give him one more hug, have one more dance. Always living with _‘just one more’._

“Klaus? Allison? What’s happening?” Vanya’s voice is soft, but worried, and Klaus opens his eyes and grins blearily at her blurry figure. Hm, maybe he needs glasses. “Luther didn’t tell us what the meeting is about.”

Klaus waves a hand wildly, almost smacking himself in the face. “Allison won’t tell me,” he says, rolling his head so he can stare at his other sister who is staring straight back at him. “Ally-boo, why are we having a family meeting?”

Allison takes a breath and starts writing, her pen scratching against the notepad loudly in the silence of the room. Diego takes a seat on the couch next to Klaus, shouldering him roughly with a cheeky smirk. Klaus’s head starts doing pirouettes. Five, Luther and Vanya scatter themselves around the room, aiming confused looks at both Allison and Klaus, not that Number Four notices.

**KLAUS IS INJURED.** Allison’s writing is shaky, as if her hands had been trembling while she’d been writing. **HE WON’T TELL ME HOW HE GOT STABBED.**

“Ally,” Klaus whines. “I wasn’t going to tell them. Why’d you have to turn on me like this?”

Diego is already reaching for Klaus’s shoulders, eyes dark with emotions that Klaus can’t quite identify. Still...Klaus has had a lot of people grab at him before, and not all of them have been nice with their hands. So he winces away from his brother, eyes flicking to Ben as Diego falters.

Ben tilts his head. “Let them look, Klaus.”

“No,” Klaus argues. “They’ll ask me to explain, and then they’ll think I’m back on drugs, and then I’ll be sent away again. I’m fine. I’ve had worse.”

_“Klaus.”_ Ben sounds exasperated. “They’re not going to abandon you because of an injury, and if they do you’re going to make me corporeal so I can beat their asses.”

Klaus pulls a face and nods at Diego, who immediately grabs at his scarf and shirt. Klaus tries to help Diego take the top off, but Number Two immediately smacks his hands away with a small growl so Klaus flops back and does his best to make Diego’s job _harder_. Let it be known that Klaus Hargreeves is a little shit, and doesn’t help anyone but himself.

Eventually, Diego gets the clothes off and that leaves Klaus in his pants and the blood-soaked bandage around his abdomen. Klaus tries to wiggle his eyebrows at Diego. “Congratulations,” he purrs. “You’ve gotten me undressed. What now, big boy?”

Except Diego doesn’t respond. His eyes are blown wide with shock and horror, and Klaus realises that nobody else is making any noise. They’re all just _staring_ at him. His skin prickles and he curls in on himself self-consciously. He’s always hated people looking at him for long amounts of time.

“Tell them,” Ben encourages softly. “And don’t lie.”

Klaus is almost scared. Almost. Kinda. Okay, maybe he’s slightly worried that Luther will throw him across the room again if Klaus messes this up. He’s not sure how much fun that would be, and he’s really not keen to find out. Right, looks like he’s doing this Ben’s way. “I’ve had worse,” he blurts and then freezes.

Ben sighs. “Klaus-”

“You told me not to lie,” Klaus snaps at him, wiggling his fingers in Ben’s direction. “Zip it, Casper.”

Ben scowls.

Klaus peers at his siblings, taking in their expectant expressions. Right. Explanation required. “I went for a walk,” he says, voice decidedly unsteady. “And I obviously had a great time. Ran across an old dealer, said the wrong thing, got stabbed, came home. Story over. Please stop staring at me now.”

“Were you going out to get high?” Five’s voice is clinical and almost-cold. Klaus makes a small noise and shakes his head. See? He’d _told_ Ben they wouldn’t believe him. Because he’s always been druggie Number Four, always been the disappointment. He should have known. “I believe you. Now, let me see the wound. It may need stitches.”

It takes Klaus a moment to register. _What?_ Five believes him? Five has _never_ believed him about not being high. Klaus just blinks at his brother. Five makes a frustrated noise, and soon his hands are pulling gently at the bandages, peeling them away from Klaus’s wound to display the ugly slice. 

Diego sucks in a sharp breath, uttering a soft, “_Shit_ Klaus.”

Yeah. _Shit._

Klaus tries to push Five away in reflex as Five starts poking at the injury, making small hums to himself. Diego grabs one hand and Ben grabs the other and Klaus squeezes tightly as flashes of hot and pain wash over him. It’s not the worst he’s had, not by far, but it still hurts and he feels strangely vulnerable around his family.

“Getting shot didn’t hurt this bad,” he says randomly, because the stilted silence is making him uneasy and he needs to _move_ and _do something_. “Granted, the bullet went through and Dave distracted me during my time on bed-rest, but like. You’d expect bullets to hurt more than some rusty knife.”

Five doesn’t look up when he says, “This knife was dull. It tore skin. Also, bullets are hot and partially sear the wound anyway, so it tends to dull some of your nerves.”

Klaus doesn’t even go there.

“When did you get _shot_?” Luther asks, sounding horrified. 

Klaus frowns, because hasn’t he already told someone about Vietnam and Dave? He can almost remember it, but all of his siblings seem completely unaware. Maybe he didn’t. Hmm. “I fought in the Vietnam war,” he says casually. “I met a guy, fell in love, he died, I came back here. End of story.”

Five coughs, and when Klaus glances down at him, it looks like he’s trying to bite back a smile. Ah, of course. Five had known about the time travel. Klaus looks at Ben, whose lips are pinched into a thin line. Huh. Maybe Benji doesn’t know either. Klaus really needs to keep track of who knows what. Not knowing is exhausting.

Diego tugs gently on his hand. “That’s it?” He says incredulously. “No, no. You’re going to have to elaborate. You fought in the _Vietnam War_? How?”

Klaus raises an eyebrow. “Time travel,” he says. _“Duh.”_

“Okay, _when_ did you go back to the Vietnam War?”

Klaus doesn’t respond straight away. Instead, he chews on his lip and watches Five start cleaning up his stab wound. It’s not that he doesn’t want Diego to know about Hazel and Cha Cha, it’s just that he remembers _telling_ Diego, and Diego hadn’t believed him. 

And besides. Klaus had gotten Diego’s lady cop killed. So maybe he shouldn’t say anything about it, and let his siblings live on in ignorance.

Ben answers for him. Klaus hadn’t even realised his hands were glowing. “After he got tortured,” Ben says, eyes bright with anger. “By Hazel and Cha Cha. Because they wanted to know about Five. And you know what? They didn’t believe Klaus when he said nobody was coming for him. Too bad Klaus wasn’t lying.”

“Ben,” Klaus soothes. “It’s okay. They’re not at fault.”

“I beg to differ,” Ben says mildly, and Klaus remembers that Ben has always been passive-aggressive. How unsettling it is to be scolded without _being scolded_. Klaus shivers. Ben notices. “I think you need to lie down.”

Five makes another noise and leans back on his heels. “I’ve stitched up what I can,” he says, frowning down at Klaus’s stomach. “It’s hard when Klaus is so skinny, but I managed. He’s lost a lot of blood, though, so we need to get some food and water into him and then he needs sleep.”

Klaus is totally down for sleep. Sleep is amazing. Sleep is like having sex and being high mixed together but it’s actually _good_, you know?

“Just one more question,” Vanya says quietly, and Five allows it because he’s always had a soft spot for Vanya. Klaus just looks pointedly at Vanya’s nose and not her eyes. He’s afraid of what he’ll find in those endless pools of colours. “Klaus, who was the other man?”

And _oh_. She wants to know about _Dave_.

Klaus takes a deep, shuddering breath, and both Diego and Ben hold his hands a little tighter. “Dave,” he sighs, and the name falls from his lips like a prayer. “My Dave. My soldier boy. He was a soldier in the war. We had a good ten months together. He was smart, and kind, and clever, and he was _beautiful_.” Klaus’s breath catches in his throat and he rolls his eyes up to look at the roof. “He was beautiful, Vanya.”

It’s Diego who asks gently, “Did he die?”

Klaus chokes on a hysterical laugh. “Yeah buddy. Yeah.”

“And you can’t just...see him?” Luther says plainly, still looking confused. Allison hits him. “What? It’s literally Klaus’s power to see dead people. Shouldn’t he be able to see this Dave guy?”

Klaus shuts his eyes again, feeling a tug on the energy in his chest as Ben steps forward and lands a hit squarely on Luther’s cheek. “You dumb fuck,” Ben snarls, all passiveness gone like smoke on the wind. Ooh, smoke. Klaus could go for a cigarette right now. “You have no idea, do you? Klaus can’t just _find_ someone’s ghost. He can hardly see through the ones that ruin his life, so of course he isn’t going to look too closely for _one_ spirit. You, of all people, should keep your mouth shut about shit you don’t understand.”

“What does that mean?” Luther leapt to his feet, towering over ghostly Ben. Klaus opens his eyes and reaches his free hand towards his brother. Diego makes a soothing noise and urges him to relax again. 

Ben laughs, low and angry. “I’m saying that since you raised your hand against him and then left him for dead, you should keep your mouth shut.”

Silence.

Klaus tenses, and Diego abruptly lets go of his hand. “Wait-” Klaus tries, struggling to sit up. Five reaches forward and just pushes him back down. Klaus glares at his brother. Doesn’t Five understand what’s happening? People are getting angry, angry on _Klaus’s_ behalf, and that means fists and fighting. “Damn it Ben,” Klaus mutters, surrendering and letting Five guide him back down. “This is why I didn’t want to tell anyone.”

“I don’t know,” Five says evenly, glancing over at Luther. His eyes are cold. “There are things that we, as your siblings, should know.”

Klaus gets the feeling that Five is talking about more than just what’s happening in the moment.

“Ben,” Diego says, standing up as well. “Explain. Now.”

Ben retreats back over to Klaus, sidestepping Five to sink into the sofa. “When Klaus told Luther he couldn’t summon Dad, Luther decided that choking was the way to go. When that didn’t work, he threw Klaus around a little bit.”

“Ben,” Klaus hisses wildly, trying to swat his brother. It doesn’t quite work. Ben gives him an unimpressed look. _“Shut up.”_

Ben just shakes his head, and starts talking again. Klaus is going to _kill_ his already-dead brother. “Luther also decided to go and get high,” he says, except this time he just sounds tired and sad. Klaus maybe feels a little bad. “Klaus followed him, and got caught in the crossfire. Long story short, he get thrown, hit his head and died.”

“God is a little girl,” Klaus adds helpfully. “She doesn’t like me that much.”

Five nods slowly, face twisted in thought. “So that’s how you spoke to Dad.”

Klaus is starting to get twitchy. This is the reason he hadn’t wanted his family to know. His siblings turn on each other in a heartbeat, and they can’t do that if they want to keep the world safe. “Look,” he says, rubbing at his bare arms. “I got results, and I’m very clearly okay. Peachy keen. We can stop now.”

“Klaus, you’ve been stabbed,” Five says pointedly. Klaus just sighs. “We’ve also learned that you’ve died and come back and then not _told_ anyone. This requires discussion.”

“It really _doesn’t_,” Klaus mutters, but then the others glare at him and he decides that maybe now is a good time to hush. He half-expects Diego to throw something at him. Number Two is certainly angry enough.

Ben tries to run his hand through Klaus’s hair in silent support - the movement is aborted the second that Ben realises his hand is going _through_ Klaus’s hair. Klaus winces in apology, noting that the blue glow has faded and Ben has faded with it. “It’s okay,” Ben whispers when Klaus gives him a lost look. “It was a lot to ask in your current state. I appreciate the time you gave me.”

Klaus hums and lets his eyes drop shut again. He _is_ really tired. And if the others don’t want him to speak, then maybe...maybe he can just sleep for a while.

.

Five is the one to notice Klaus’s head loll uselessly. Immediately, he’s hovering over his brother and poking at his cheek. Klaus doesn’t respond. “Shit,” Five curses, because he can’t risk jumping with Klaus and reopening Number Four’s injuries. But Klaus needs to go upstairs and lie down, because he obviously lost a lot of blood and Five’s stitching isn’t enough to hold him together this time.

But none of the others pay the situation any attention, too focused on arguing with each other. Diego is balancing a blade on his finger, sneering at Luther who in turn is pulling himself up to his full height. Vanya is with Allison, who looks stricken. 

Five does not have time for their bullshit. Siblings. _Honestly._

“Hey!” He snaps loudly, jumping directly between Diego and Luther. They both startle. “Klaus is unconscious. Can one of you carry him up to his room? I need to get some extra medical supplies to make sure he doesn’t die.”

Diego sends one last glare to Luther before moving over to Klaus, whose prone body is pale and sweaty. Five pretends not to notice Diego affectionately brushing Klaus’s curls away from his forehead. Stupid emotions. Five really doesn’t have the time or patience for such things.

He makes the rash decision to leave Klaus with Diego, hurriedly jumping to medical and fishing around for some pain meds and some antiseptic cream. He also jumps to the kitchen to grab a cold glass of water. Klaus will undoubtedly want it when he wakes up.

(_If_ he wakes up.)

Five appears in Klaus’s room, relieved to find his brother safely tucked into bed, Diego hovering over him like a worried mother. Number Two gently presses a hand to Klaus’s cheek, clicking his tongue as he feels the heat radiating from Klaus’s skin. Five frowns. Maybe they weren’t fast enough to stop an infection.

“We’ll need to have a long chat with him when he wakes up,” Five says, nudging Diego out of the way and starting to tend to Klaus’s stitched knife wound. It really is an ugly slice - the blade had to be duller than Luther’s wit.

Diego makes a small sound of frustration. “Why doesn’t he _tell_ us these things?”

“Would you have believed him if he had?” Five points out mildly. “I mean, Vanya said none of you believed him about Ben. And besides, he spent years on the streets on his own.”

“But _torture_,” Diego says, exhaling harshly. “He didn’t say a word.”

Five doesn’t really have an answer for that, because _he’d_ known, really. He’d just been excited that Klaus had time travelled. He hadn’t really stopped to think what Klaus might have been through before and after the fact.

“We’ve all failed in our ways,” he says, staring at Klaus’s sleeping face. For once, there’s no stress on his brother’s face. He looks younger somehow. Five feels a strange pang in his chest. He twists to look at Diego. “But we’ll be better. For him.”

“For him,” Diego echoes.

Unseen, Ben nods with them.


End file.
